Anglican Church of St Peter

The Anglican Church of St Peter

This unconsecrated Anglican church was built in 1906–7 on Cleeve Hill, a small settlement above Bishop's Cleeve, to serve the rapidly growing population living on the exposed hilltop. The church was designed by E Douglas Hoyland, the English representative of the Frazzi Construction Company of Cremona, Italy, and was constructed by local craftsmen using a patented system of prefabricated hollow terracotta blocks manufactured in Italy and shipped to England.

The decision to use this lightweight construction system was driven by the steep and potentially precarious nature of the site. The Frazzi system was chiefly used elsewhere for fireproofing and damp-proofing purposes. St Peter appears to be the earliest of only a handful of churches designed by Hoyland and built in England in the early 20th century using the Frazzi system.

The church is built from hollow terracotta blocks set on a local limestone plinth and faced with roughcast render, with a roof covered in clay double Roman tiles. The building forms an irregular rectangle on plan, oriented north-west to south-east, and comprises a nave, aisle, and organ chamber to the south-west, with a projecting vestry, sacristy, and porch to the north-east. Above the lobby sits a bellchamber containing a single bell. The structure stands at a high single storey.

The north-east side of the nave has three windows with timber mullions and transoms and coloured glass, together with a horizontal three-pane casement window to the vestry. The gabled timber porch features decorative bracing and a pair of panelled doors beneath. At the north-west end is a window similar to that in the vestry, and another similar window with more elaborate coloured glazing set high in the gable. The four windows to the south-west aisle are horizontal casements. At the south-east end is a large timber window with a triangular top and three lights with cusping.

The lofty interior space is dominated by an open timber roof structure, with aisle posts and trusses featuring a tie beam and high collar with elaborate vertical bracing. The sanctuary is articulated by faux timber framing in an Arts and Crafts influenced style, with white painted plaster infill panels. The warm pink terracotta blocks are left visible above smooth white-painted plaster dado, finished with a moulded rail.

The octagonal font, featuring geometric and foliate relief carvings, was made by a local mason, Walter Fry. The main window above the altar is of good quality and depicts the Crucifixion; it is inscribed and dated 1921. The central figure may be a re-used element, possibly by Clayton and Bell and dating from the 1870s, reset in a new window in 1921. The stained glass in the south-west windows depicts the crossed keys of St Peter, whilst those to the north-east have decorative margin glazing. The floors are timber boards. An undercroft lies beneath part of the north end of the church.

The building was raised by subscription to meet the needs of the local Church of England congregation, who had found it impractical to travel the two miles and 600 feet to St Michael church at Bishop's Cleeve. A board of trustees was formed, including local architect Thomas Malvern, who acted as executive architect for the congregation. The church opened for worship in 1907 but was never consecrated, remaining a daughter church of the parish of St Michael. It remained in use by a gradually dwindling congregation until its centenary in July 2007, when it closed for worship.